CRIMINAL RECORDS BARED

Background Checks On Candidates Reveal Drug Offenses, DUIs

Everything from youthful indiscretions to more serious offenses mark the
pasts of some people hoping to be elected this November.

The Rocky Mountain News checked every Colorado candidate seeking office at
the state level or higher to see if they had a criminal record.

The checks were done through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Individuals whose cases were ultimately dismissed have been omitted.

. Colorado Reform Party candidate Christopher Wilson, who is running for
the state House District 5 seat, pled guilty to domestic violence charges
in 2001.

Wilson said he took about nine months of classes and served the same amount
of probation. He said the charges stemmed from an e-mail he sent his now
ex-wife during their difficult divorce. Wilson said he opted to plead
guilty and get certain probation rather than go to court and risk jail time.

"In retrospect, I wish I would have fought the charges," Wilson said. "But
at the time, it was quite an ordeal and I was just trying to get on with my
life."

. Mark Entrekin, the Democratic candidate for state House District 16, was
convicted of domestic violence in 1990 in connection with a fight with his
now ex-wife.

Entrekin says he spent the night in jail.

"She came in, took the kids, slapped me and then they found me guilty of
domestic violence. I tried to appeal, but I just couldn't afford it,"
Entrekin said. "I'm still to this day shocked about what happened and how
things went."

Entrekin, a business consultant, points out that he has since been elected
to serve as the Colorado coordinator for the Children's Rights Council.

One of Entrekin's opponents, Libertarian Scott Graves, also has a criminal
history.

. Graves served four years' probation for his 1992 conviction for
possession and sale of marijuana.

"It's not a big secret. I don't put a sign on my chest, but I don't keep it
a secret," Graves said. "I'm a reasonably successful guy. I used to smoke
pot and I sold a little to my friends. I served my time, I got done with
it. I went on with my life."

Graves said his first priority, if elected, would be to "fix the medical
marijuana law," legalize marijuana for recreational use and push the
governor to pardon all drug-related crimes.

. Timothy A. Jacobs, Libertarian candidate for House District 58 near
Montrose, was arrested in 1988 in Lafayette on a charge of cruelty toward a
child.

"I punched my 15-year-old stepson," Jacobs said.

As a result of the arrest, Jacobs said he underwent counseling and the
matter was "successfully resolved."

"It was a mistake I made," Jacobs said. "I don't think it's very relevant
to the campaign."

. Libertarian Hans Romer, who is running for state House District 29, was
arrested and convicted of drug-related charges from 1994 through 1995 and
eventually served three months in a prison boot camp.

Romer said he was drawn to the drug trade as a way to make money. He never
used the drugs himself, he said.

"I finally got myself straightened out and bought a house," Romer said.
"Essentially what it came down to was a money situation. I was making
thousands of dollars and I needed the money."

Like some other Libertarians, Romer said his drug history drew him to the
party. He agrees with the party's push to end the war on drugs.

"Making the American people at this point keep fighting this drug war is
ridiculous," Romer said. "I think we need to move away from this idea of
totalitarian government telling everyone what they can and can't do with
their bodies."

. Victor Good says that "I'm good, not perfect."

The Reform Party candidate for Congress in Colorado's new 7th Congressional
District said he disclosed his criminal history to party officials when he
first applied to run. He also listed his criminal convictions on a
questionnaire submitted to the Rocky Mountain News.

His convictions include misdemeanor eluding, first-degree assault and
driving under the influence of alcohol. None is more recent than 1989.

"Most of this stuff is 15 or 20 years ago," Good said.

The eluding case came while he was a senior in high school. He and a friend
had gone to see the Blues Brothers that week, a movie about two blues
musicians who dressed in black suits and drove fast. Good and his friend
were caught trying to elude police in a brand-new truck.

"It was a stupid move," Good said.

The most serious charge occurred in January 1985, a few days before Good
was to be married. It happened when his bachelor party turned into a brawl.

Good said he saw his brother dangling in the air after another man had
picked him up by the neck. Fearful that his brother was about to be harmed,
Good said he grabbed a bottle and told the other man to put his brother down.

When that failed, Good said he hit the other man over the head with the bottle.

"It was a split second," Good said.

"I don't know to this day whether what I did was the right thing, but I
felt remorse," he said. "It was unfortunate. I wish it didn't happen."

Good said his experiences make him a better candidate.

"I'm not a well-groomed puppet," he said. "If people want to judge me, so
be it."

. The Libertarian candidate for a seat on the University of Colorado Board
of Regents, Flux J. Neo, has been arrested for driving under the influence
twice in the past five years.

According to court records, Neo, 26, was arrested for DUI on Nov. 20, 1998,
in Crested Butte. He entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of driving
while ability impaired. He was arrested for driving with a revoked license
May 20, 1999, in Boulder, and later entered a guilty plea.

He also was arrested for obstructing a police officer on Sept. 2, 2001, in
Boulder. That charge was later dismissed.

Neo, a CU student formerly known as Jason Gamboa, is running for the
board's 2nd Congressional District seat.

. Rep. Gregg Rippy, a Republican seeking his second term in state House
District 61, pled guilty to driving under the influence in 1983.

The incident occurred when Rippy drove off a road and was questioned by
police. He was 27 at the time.

"I could make excuses for it. But the fact is I was wrong and I deserved it
at the time," Rippy said. "I've certainly changed my life since then."

. Libertarian Jeff Taton, who is running for state House District 6, was
convicted of a series of charges ranging from theft to failure to appear.
The incidents occurred from 1984 through 1987.

Taton ended up serving two years of probation for the theft of a ten-speed
bike when he was 19. Taton said he stole the bike to get home from a party
after having too much to drink.

"It was 20 years ago. I don't think about it anymore and I certainly don't
do stuff like that anymore," Taton said. "I was young and stupid."

. Republican Bob McCluskey, who is running for the state House District 52
seat, was convicted of driving while impaired in 1992.

"I was embarrassed. My family was embarrassed," McCluskey said. "I went
through the process and look back on it as something I learned from."

McCluskey, who is president of Poudre Valley Creamery, had to take driving
classes and do community service for the offense.

. Republican state Senate District 20 candidate Steve Jensen of Golden, a
Jefferson County prosecutor, was convicted of shoplifting in 1979.

Jensen said he was a sophomore in college when he walked out of a store
with a pair of shorts without paying. He immediately was caught and paid a
fine.

"I'm being honest. That's all it was," he said.